Late last night we were mulling over our invitation to the Apple launch
event this evening and pondering the significance of it saying "We have
something you really have to see. And Touch." Historically there
has always been meaning behind every last word in Apple's invites -
remember the iPhone 4S launch that introduced Siri? The invite said
"Let's talk iPhone." - so clearly there's something significant about
touch.

Then, technology Editor at The Guardian, Charles Arthur,
wrote a piece that flicked the mental switch. He'd made the connection
between a haptic feedback company he'd visited recently, called Senseg,
and the new Apple launch. He'd seen them in January and they'd kept very
quiet about mentioning specifics of who they're working with. However,
we saw them last year and they were rather more candid, admitting that "We are currently working with a certain tablet maker based in
Cupertino,"

So, is the iPad HD, or whatever it's called, set to have haptic feedback? Let's just say we may not be as surprised as some.

What is haptic feedback?

Haptic
feedback is the sensation of touch added to interactions with
touchscreen devices. Traditionally on mobile devices this has been
limited to those crummy vibrators that double up for notification duty
when your phone's in silent mode, but more and more effort has recently
been putting into improving the level of feedback on offer.

What is Senseg?

Senseg
is a Finnish company that has pioneered a new haptic feedback
technology that uses electrical impulses to stimulate the nerves in the
end of your finger. The technology works using an extra layer applied to
the whole surface of the screen rather than just a few buzzing spots. The result is that it can recreate the sensation of different surfaces that correspond to what's onscreen. Silk, sandpaper, a ball, rippling corrugated iron, all these can be emulated by this clever tech.

When we tried the technology last year we had mixed results with yours truly struggling to sense the electric pulses through the tough manly skin of my fingers, but ex-news editor Gordon Kelly could quite distinctly feel the changing surfaces and patterns.

An exciting new development for touch technology or a bit of a gimmick? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Keithe6e

March 7, 2012, 6:48 pm

>> bit of a gimmick?

Currently there are some really nice games on iOS, but what I've always found awkward is the controls. So hopefully having some feedback on the screen controls would help here.

Also it may help with the onscreen keyboard, but for touch typing the Capacitive screen could do with some resistive type feedback. eg, when I touch type, my fingers are resting on the home keys "ASDF" & "JKL:".

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